Last Dance

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

After checking out the crime scene and forensics briefing her, Alexis exited Gari Hancock’s two-story beach house and joined her partner and best friend Penelope Dao.

The shapely, Vietnamese woman with the blonde highlights consoled Gari’s distraught friend, Tori Majors.

Penelope glanced at Alexis, her slanted eyes disappearing underneath their lids. “You’re caught up?”

“Yep,” Alexis said.

Forensic officers scurried through the sand, bringing possible evidence from the house.

“I remember Gari Hancock.” Alexis sighed, gripping her hips. “She grew up in the trailers with Kevin. She was about ten when Kevin and I were teenagers.”

Penelope nodded. “Yeah, she’d just turned twenty-five.”

Tori wiped her sharp nose on the back of her hand. “I can’t believe this is happening.” She sat on the porch steps in white shorts, flip-flops and a striped black and white tank top that showed the imprint of her small breasts. “I found her.” She slapped her pale thighs, turning them red. “And I still don’t believe it’s happened. Who would wanna hurt Gari?”

Penelope jotted on her notepad.

“That’s our job to find out,” Alexis said turning to Penelope. “So, we have Gari. A twenty-five-year-old stripper who worked at The Boomerang gentleman’s club.”

“Owned by our friend Grant Copeland,” Penelope said. “She has no family. Her aunt was the last relative she had, and she died about ten years ago.”

“She has a daughter.” Tori sniffled. “I considered myself Gari’s family. We were like sisters.” She batted her crystal-blue eyes. “We used to dance at the club together, but I stopped a few years ago.”

“Why did you stop?” Alexis held her dress down from the breeze.

“I got into an accident on my bike.” The spikes of Tori’s short red hair blew in the night air. “One day I was riding down the street and some car came from behind and hit me, shattering my hip.”

“Ouch,” Penelope whispered.

“I’m in constant pain and take medication just to get through the day. I tried to dance after that but it was no use. Besides, the doctors said it was not a good idea. You can’t imagine how many specialists I’ve seen. I was the one who got Gari working at the club.” She half-smiled. “Taught her everything she knows about stripping but she was always a great dancer.”

“Is there anyone you know of that would want Gari dead?” Alexis asked. “Anyone she had an issue with?”

Tori lowered her head.

Alexis inhaled the aroma of fresh salt water and sand. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”

Tori fidgeted. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

“Please be honest with us,” Alexis said.

“He wouldn’t hurt her.” She shook her head. “It was friction between them, yes, but he wouldn’t do anything to her.”

“Who?” Penelope flicked her hair off one shoulder.

“Heath Cosgrove.”

“Who is Heath Cosgrove?” Alexis maneuvered her feet to keep her shoes from sinking in the sand.

“He’s her ex-boyfriend and the father of her six-year-old daughter.”

Penelope squinted. “You said they have friction?”

Tori nodded. “Gari was trying to get her life together, and she decided she wanted custody of Latasha.”

“He has custody?” Alexis reflected on the info. “That’s unusual.”

“Gari used to do drugs. Heath’s a lot older than her. He’s thirty-five, and they got together when she was eighteen. They were together a year before she got pregnant. Heath broke it off with her because of her habit. But she’s been clean for at least three years now.”

“Well, if she wanted custody that would explain the friction.” Alexis peered at Penelope who nodded.

“Heath wouldn’t hurt her.” Tori stood, pulling her shorts. “He loves his daughter, and he wouldn’t take her mother away from her.”

“Trying to get custody of a child is a very strong motive, Tori,” Alexis said.

“I’m telling you Heath wouldn’t hurt her.”

“I take it you and Heath get along?” Penelope asked.

“I’ll always be grateful for what he did for Gari. It wasn’t until Heath that she kicked the habit. If it hadn’t been for him Gari might’ve been dead a long time ago.”

“Though we can’t be sure until the autopsy, I’d guess Gari was killed sometime this afternoon.” Penelope tapped the notepad with her pencil. “Is this the first time you’ve been here today?”

Tori nodded. “I was at physical therapy from about eleven this morning to two.” She gave them the name of the facility and her trainer. “After that, I went to the grocery store and was there for about thirty minutes.”

Penelope wrote the info. “Then?”

“I went to a movie.” Tori shrugged with her hands in her pockets. “You can talk to the workers at the theater.” She told the name of the movie theater.

“After the movie you came here?” Alexis asked.

“I hadn’t spoken to Gari in a few days, and I wanted to check on her.” She shivered, covering her eyes. “Never in a million years did I think I’d walk into this. I couldn’t even tell what was wrong.”

“Strangulation is usually a crime of passion,” Penelope said. “Meaning there’s a chance the person knew her well.”

“I can’t believe it.” Tori sat back on the steps, rubbing her stomach. “Gari was all I had.” She sobbed. “All I had.”

****

“I can’t believe this.” Heath pried his clasped hands from his mouth. “Gari’s dead?”

“We’re sorry for your loss,” Penelope said. “Our priority is finding out anything that could lead us to Gari’s killer.”

He relaxed his six-foot-six frame in the leather chair, stretching his long legs. “I just can’t believe it.”

Alexis grabbed the picture of an adorable little girl with brown hair and freckles. “Is this your daughter?”

Heath sighed. “Yeah.”

“Where is she?” Alexis set the photo on the computer desk.

“Upstairs sleeping.” He rubbed his wide forehead, drawing attention to his chiseled jawline. “How am I gonna tell her that her mom’s been killed?” His thick eyebrows flattened.

“We spoke to Tori,” Penelope said. “She told us Gari was trying to get custody of Latasha.”

“Ah, I see where this is going.” He patted the worn thighs of his jeans. “You think I killed Gari? It’s always the ex to you guys isn’t it?”

“We’re not accusing you of anything.” Penelope waved her pencil. “We’re here to get the details. It’s our job.”

Heath’s sad, brown eyes focused on Alexis’ mid-section. “You look beautiful, Detective.”

Alexis stood back, batting her eyes. “Excuse me?”

“You’re all dressed up.” He gestured to her gown.

“Oh.” She smiled. “I was at a party.”

“Look, the courts wouldn’t have given Gari custody so I don’t have a motive.” He touched his shaggy, dust-brown hair that stopped at his shoulders. “She claimed she was getting her life together, but she always said that and it wasn’t true. Nothing ever worked out for her because she wanted the easy way out. Why do you think she stripped? Did you know she was prostituting when I met her? She hid it from me. She worked at a burger place and turned tricks on the side to support her habit.” He slapped his palms together. “I should’ve run then, but I loved Gari. I sacrificed a lot for her, but once Latasha came along, I was done. She was still on drugs and doing crazy s**t. There was no way I could allow her around Latasha. I’d do anything to protect my daughter.”

“Did you see Gari today?” Penelope asked. “Been to her place?”

“I’ve been at work all day. I’m a delivery driver.” He gave them the name of the company and address. “I’m innocent.” He stood, towering over them. “I’d never hurt the mother of my child.”